In this blog ...
* I want to teach someone who wants to learn to sew but has no one to show them how.
* I want to instill in someone the love of sewing
* I want to teach them to want to go that extra step to achieve a garment that is special and professional looking.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Making Continuous Bias

Have you ever heard of continuous bias? I first learned about it from a customer at Fabricville where I no longer work.(But I really enjoyed my 6 years as a part-time worker).

I also have to acknowledge Sandra Betzina and Ron Collins because their Web TV Show clarified the process for me.

1. You start with a square of fabric.This one was 15"square.

2. Draw a line to join two corners on the diagonal.

3.Cut the square in two along the diagonal.

4. Bring the two triangles together right sides of fabric facing each other.

There should be two little triangles sticking out at each side.

5. Sew with an exact 1/4" seam.

6. Open up the piece and it should look like this. Press open the seam.

7. Draw lines 2' deep.(You can make them wider if you want but you'll end up with less product.Don't worry if your last strip is a little more than the 2".Just trim off the excess.

8. Fold your piece so it looks like this and your lines are lined up.It took me some time to figure this part out.

Now this step is a little hard to explain but bear with me.

9. Move the bottom half over to the left until the first bottom strip lines up with the second strip in the top half.

10. Now you're going to pin the two halves together from this point. When you pin, stick the pins in so you will have a 1/4" seam but your bottom and top lines half to intersect so stick the pin through the bottom line at 1/4" and then through the top line at 1/4" like this.

Notice the shape of your fabric now.

11. Now sew the 1/4" seam across the joined lines. Press the seam open.

Notice how the lines of each half line up nicely.

12. Begin to cut along the lines being sure to cut only one layer at a time until you reach the end of your fabric.

Believe it or not,but that little 15"square of fabric will yield you about 96" of bias strips.

Now you can go ahead and prepare your strips in whatever way you prefer. This is what I do.

I truly hope this is clearly explained and that somebody can use this in their sewing projects.Please let me know what you think.

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Just For Beginners

I'm adding this new section under the titlePages (for New Sewers) just below. It's just for those people who don't already sew or who do but are not having good results. To access the topic just click on it and the page will appear. It isn't a post and you can't find it by scrolling down the various posts.

DIANA'S SIMPLE FITTING SOLUTIONSI want to emphasize that these fitting solutions are what works for me and what I share with my students. I don't claim to be an expert on this topic. I've gathered this information from various sources.